A satellite antenna is typically aligned upon deployment to the location the satellite antenna is to be used. The alignment process may include pointing the satellite antenna in a general area of the target (e.g., a geosynchronous satellite) and partially fixing the satellite antenna to the object (e.g., a building or other structure) or ground on which it is to be mounted. Next, a series of feedback steps may be used to make fine adjustments to the pointing direction of the satellite antenna until it is determined that the satellite antenna is actually aligned with the target. Once a good alignment is determined, an installer may fix the mounted position of the satellite antenna.
A common problem after aligning and mounting a satellite antenna is that its line-of-sight (LOS) conditions may change over time. This may result in degraded performance. Changes in LOS conditions may be the result of changes in pointing direction of the satellite antenna. Causes of changed LOS conditions may include, for example, a weakening of a support structure (e.g., a sagging building), a slipping of a wall mount, an impact to the satellite antenna (e.g., a ball striking the satellite antenna), or an obstruction between the satellite antenna and the satellite (e.g., foliage growing or a new building). Diagnosing degraded performance at the satellite antenna may require rolling a truck to the location so a technician can determine the cause of the degraded performance and attempt to correct it. In some cases, the technician may arrive at the antenna location only to verify that the antenna is still correctly aligned but the antenna is temporarily obstructed by something at the customer site which could have been relatively easily correctable by the customer themselves. Unnecessary truck rolls may lead to increase costs. In other cases, intermittently degraded performance may be due to wind or other temporary condition which may not occur when the technician arrives at the antenna location. This can make it challenging to identify the cause of the degraded performance. If the satellite antenna is misaligned or obstructed, determining a cause of the misalignment or obstruction may be important to allocate costs of realigning the satellite antenna. In addition, early detection of misalignment or obstruction of the satellite antenna may enable a quicker resolution, which may improve the customer experience and reduce the effects of degraded antenna performance on the overall system.